I'm not a parent, but a young woman with anaphylaxis to all nuts. Just wanted to share a story from when I was a little one...

I knew as early as I can remember that I was allergic to nuts, and even as a youngster knew to always ask if food was safe. One day I was next door and my neighbour, also young, offered me a cookie. I asked what was in it, and she said it was chocolate chip pecan... I knew the names that had 'nut' in it, but didn't know what a pecan was. I took the cookie in my mouth just as my older brother (by 5 years) came over and demanded to know what I was eating. I said "it's ok! not nuts just pecans!" and he literally opened my mouth and took the cookie out of it, scooping out my cheeks and everything... then he picked me up and ran home. I was so little that the memory of what happened after is kind of foggy, but I'm obviously here today!

Just wanted to share this because even though I was being careful, and even though the parents of the neighbours knew about my allergies, I didn't know all the different kinds of nuts. Like cashews - to a little person that doesn't sound anything like nuts! Learning the different names can be very important, I think.

Really good point. Also filberts, pistachios, prailines, almonds do not contain the word "nuts". I have tried to teach my daughter not to accept food from anyone without asking mommy or daddy. I have told her that even though other adults can read labels, that unless you have a nut allergy, you may not recognize all of the names for nuts.

My local Sobeys now has all of their nuts in closed containers instead of bulk. Last year, when she was three, I realized that my strict avoidance policy had never actually taught her what a nut looks like. I showed her a container of peanuts at sobeys and she had no idea what it was. Since then whenever we are in the store we do a quick "educational" trip past the clear containers and I tell her what they are, and show her what they look like...it also helps with the words like "cashew" which may not be an immediate red flag to a four year old.

When my husband (nut allergic) was 8 he almost died from eating off of a mixed nut tray at his grandparents house. He knew he was allergic to nuts...but did not know what the food on the tray was.

When I’m shopping with my daughter, I point out all the different nuts and nut products that we see. Now she already knows she’s not allowed to eat food that I didn’t “okay”, but I like to make her aware of what different kinds of nuts look like and what might have nuts lurking in them (like cookies, chocolate, cereal, etc.).

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